A First Year
by SeventhTatar
Summary: Michelle is a first year ready for an experience she hopes to never forget! Her adventures are many, but will she get more than she asks for? MWPP era THIS STORY IS NO LONGER UP TO DATE.UPDATED VERSION WILL BE AVAILABLE BY SEP. 1ST AS: FROM THE PAST.
1. Vampires are real?

**Disclaimer:** Dude, if I owned Harry Potter, then where would J.K. Rowling be?

Anyway I know that it's been a while since I put up a story, or a chapter, and I'm getting to it now! Onward march!

A First Year 

**Chapter 1: Vampires are real?**

A small girl with shoulder length brown hair, green eyes and quite a bit of freckles sat by herself in one of the many compartments on the Hogwarts Express. She was fiddling with the hem on the new black robes she had put on, perhaps a little too early as the train had only just left. She couldn't help it, she was so excited. She sighed, watching the fields tumble past the window; a knock on the door startled her.

"Come in," she said, rather nervously as she knew very little people going to Hogwarts. Her sister was a fourth year and did not want her hanging around with her friends.

The door opened and a girl with flaming red hair and rather light skin came in pulling her trunk.

"May I sit with you, I don't want to intrude but almost everywhere else is filling up quickly."

"Sure, my name is Michelle Tarins," she stood to shake the other girl's hand and to help her put her trunk on the rack overhead.

"I'm Lily Evans, its nice to meet you." She sat across from Michelle, looking much more nervous than her companion. "Should I have put on my robes? I knew I did something wrong. Should I get them out?" Lily said hurriedly.

"Hang on," Michelle stopped her from jumping to get her robes from her trunk. "I put mine on early, I was just excited," she laughed a little and sat down next to her new friend. "Don't be so nervous, do you have a brother or a sister at Hogwarts?"

But before she could answer, there was a soft knock on the compartment door. This time there was a small boy behind it, looking drawn, if not ill.

"Hello, do you think I could sit with you? I can't find any empty ones. But if you don't-"

"Of course you can come in. I'm Michelle Tarins, and this is Lily Evans, are you a first year too?" Michelle introduced them and helped with his trunk also, noticing that he seemed to have a hard time lifting it.

The boy looked surprised, almost as if he wasn't expecting people to be kind to him. He pushed his sandy colored bangs out of his eyes and muttered, "Thank you, um… I'm Remus Lupin." He retreated to the far corner of the compartment and pulled out a book to read. Lily and Michelle looked at Remus curiously, but silently agreed that it would be rode to ignore his shyness and ask too many questions.

"So… are your parents magic?" Lily asked, her own shyness returning.

"Yes, I don't really know what I'd call myself though. My mum's a muggleborn and my dad is half and half, so does that make me three quarters or something?" She pulled a deck of cards out of her robe pocket but decided that maybe Exploding Snap was a bit too rambunctious for these two. "You're a muggleborn, right?"

"Yeah, my parents were so happy when I got my letter. They think that it's great to have a witch in the family, but my sister, Petunia, thinks that I'm the freak of the world," Lily said sadly.

"That's alright, maybe she'll think you're cooler when you get back during vacation. How about you, Remus?"

"Huh? Oh, well… my mum is a muggleborn too, but my dad is a pureblood." Remus said barely taking his hazel eyes off of his book.

There was a rather tense silence where Lily shuffled her feet on the floor, Michelle shuffled her cards and Remus turned a page in his book sniffing a little. Upon further examination, Michelle noted that he sort of appeared to be getting over a bad bout of the flu. Or insomnia, there were dark circles under his eyes. Michelle remembered a few nights last summer where it had been so hot that she hadn't been able to sleep, and if that be the case she wished him luck that sleep reached him soon. After a few more awkward minutes, Michelle decided to liven things up.

"Hey, Lily. Do you know what an Animagus is?"

"An Animagus, no what's that?"

"It's a person who can turn into an animal! It's really cool. There are a few in my family, we were all born them, though I heard that you can become one too."

"Really?!" Lily gasped enthusiastically. Remus' hands tightened on his book as he peeked over the top of it.

"Yeah, I'm an Animagus too! Wanna see?" She was smiling and simply bursting to see that her friend was feeling less shy.

"What animal can you turn into? Don't say a bat though, please don't say a bat. I don't like bats. They're creepy." Lily shuddered.

"Only vampires can turn into bats. Though I guess you could be a bat and an Animagus…" Lily paled.

"V-Vampires are real? But I thought that they were just myths? What about those other magical animals, are they all real too?"

"Yeah, er… most of them. Vampires, ghosts, hippogriffs, werewolves, dragons, unicorns and some others that aren't so nice, like dementors. Muggles don't know that they're real, the Ministry sees to that. But I wouldn't really worry, I mean, vampires and werewolves are still people, ghosts are people, they're just dead, and the others are animals, just like cats and dogs. There's nothing-" But Michelle broke off as someone knocked on the door.

----------------

Oohh I wonder who's at the door now? Sirius? James? Pettigrew? Or perhaps it's someone else? BwaHAHAHA Cliffy!

**Momiji's**


	2. Exploding Snap

**Chapter 2: Exploding Snap**

All three soon to be students stared at the door waiting, who would be looking for a seat in a compartment half an hour after the train had left? Michelle and Lily looked at each other for a moment; Remus peeked up over his book, hazel eyes almost sparkling with curiosity.

Whoever it was knocked again, a bit louder this time.

Lily took the initiative. "Who is it, you can come in you know?"

The door opened and a taller boy wearing jeans and a black sweater walked in. He had a kind face with nice, blue eyes and a few freckles strewn across his nose.

"Hello," he said. "By any chance you guys haven't seen a deck of Exploding Snap have you? I think I dropped mine back on the platform. I really hoped that someone had picked it up." He finished with a sad look.

"Sorry, I have a deck, but it's mine. I brought it from home." Michelle pulled out the rather tattered cards that she had put away only minutes ago.

"Hm… I put my name on the cover of the box, you know, I really wanted to play with some of my friend back in my compartment."

Something seemed to flutter across Remus' face for a split second, he placed a bookmarker at his page and carefully placed it on the seat beside him. Pulling his sleeves down a bit more as if to hide something, he stood up on the seat. Glancing embarrassedly back at the boy he mumbled, "Um… I think I may have found it, is your name Frank Longbottom?" Remus reached up to his trunk but found that it was just beyond his reach.

"Yes, it is." Frank said happily "I wrote my name on one side in green ink, I'm sure I did." He chucked a little, scratching his black hair and strode forewords. "Do you want some help with that mate?"

"Oh, um… yes please. I put the deck in my trunk…" Remus' cheeks reddened a bit but avoided anyone's gaze by staring at the floor and slowly getting off the seat. He pointed to a trunk between the other two. It was quite a bit more worn out than the ones next to it. The trunk was being held together by rope, for the buckles had broken long ago and they had not been bothered to be replaced.

Luckily, Frank was just tall enough to pull the trunk to the floor, it was quite heavy. Remus opened it and quickly took out a small pack of cards, which indeed had a scribbled "Frank Longbottom" along one edge.

"Here, sorry I had to bother you to come find them,"

"No trouble at all, in fact I really should apologize for taking you away from your book. Thank you for holding them for me, my mum would have been real upset if I had lost the deck that she only bought for me a few days ago, if there's someone you don't want to row with its her. Hey, what's your name anyway?" he held put his hand to shake Remus' smaller one.

"Remus Lupin, um…you're welcome, but I really didn't do anything," he murmured, looking away but shaking Frank's hand nonetheless.

Frank smiled and turned to go.

"I'm Frank Longbottom, a second year Griffindor, it was nice to meet you mate, and you, ladies. Farewell." He walked out of the compartment, turned around and gave a deep bow and rushed down the hall.

The silence was once again thick, though this time, more pleasantly so. Remus was watching the furiously red blush recede from Lily and Michelle's faces when he called them "ladies" and bowed. They girls gave each other a look and burst out laughing.

"What's funny?" Remus asked when their laughing died down some, tilting his head slightly.

Lily looked up at the boy, wiping her eyes, "I dunno, kind of just hit me funny. I found Mr. Longbottom entertaining, didn't you? She smiled as Remus sat beside her, not alone in his corner, she noticed. Maybe he just needed a few friends. "What's this Exploding Snap? You two appear to know what it is, but I haven't the foggiest what he was going on about. It sounded like a game. Is it?"

Michelle then went into a grand explanation on how to play, then had Remus help educate Lily on how to play Quidditch, because being a muggleborn, had no idea it even existed before that point. Some time in the afternoon the skies became dark, and shortly after the wind began to whip around the train, the rain started to fall. Quietly at first, then with increasing gusto as the lights flickered on in the hall.

Suddenly a voice came on that rang throughout the compartments,

"Would all students make sure that they have their proper robes on, the train will be arriving at Hogwarts in ten minutes time, thank you." The first years became nervous once more. Even Michelle, who's sister had told her all about the place was a little twitchy as her two companions changed into their robes.

When the train finally pulled into the station, there was a deafening racket as hundreds of witches and wizards piled out of the train and onto the platform. Michelle and Lily held hands as not to be separated by the jostling of the older students to get to the warmth and dryness of the coaches, clenched in Michelle's other hand was the sleeve of Remus' robes.

"Where do we go, Michelle, I can't see anything. I don't think that we go this way, Michelle don't we have to go to the carriages?" Lily cried anxiously over the noise of the rain and confusion. Their soaked hair dripped into their eyes and made it very difficult to see much farther than about a meter around them.

Suddenly a booming voice carried out over the students called, "Firs' years this way, firs' years, come on, to th' boats." A huge man stood, holding a lantern above the crowd and motioning for the smallest ones of the group to follow him. Lily looked to Remus and Michelle as if begging them to say they didn't have to go with him, but the two of them simply pulled her along towards the edge of a great lake where there were about eight small rowboats waiting for them.

"No more than four to a boat!" He called out once the rest of the first years had separated themselves from the diminishing crowd. Yet there was no need to find another eleven year old for their boat, there just wasn't that many of them.

As the tiny fleet of boats set off for the other side of the lake, Michelle, Lily and Remus huddled together, shivering and pulling their cloaks tighter. Remus' teeth chattered as he answered the look on Lily's face, "T-that was Hagrid, he's the keeper of the Hogwarts g-grounds, he's big but he's just about harmless, I've met him before, h-he's nice. Oh, bloody hell, look at the guys in front of us…"

Lily and Michelle followed Remus' pointed finger. The boys in the boat in front of them were horsing around, not fighting really, but the boy with black hair, longer than the other one's was looking in danger of falling out of the rocking boat. Michelle's face blanched as the last boy in the boat, a rather pudgy one with short, blond hair yelled, "look out!" and over he went with a splash into the black, abyss of water. Lily screamed, and Remus looked like he was in shock. The boy's head bobbed up and down, above and beneath the water, farther and farther away from his own boat. Within twelve seconds, he was right beside Michelle, Lily and Remus' boat. Somehow, they managed to pull him aboard without submerging their own. Once aboard, the boy shook his head and coughed into his fist a few times.

Michelle was the first to gain her voice, " How could you be so careless? What if you had drowned, I mean, gah- are you serious?" The boy looked up into her incredulous face and smiled charmingly,

"Yep, I'm Sirius, Sirius Black."

Hey! It's me! Haha James pushed Sirius out of the boat. Oh, by the way **Disclaimer:** none of the characters you recognize are mine. The only one I own is Michelle. Damnit.


	3. Just Not a Slytherin

**Disclaimer:** I really own nothing!

**Chapter three: Just Not a Slytherin**

Michelle made a face but otherwise said nothing to the boy; next to her Lily was gaping at something in the distance. Her mouth opened wide, eyes as round as dinner plates,

"Michelle, is that the school? Is that Hogwarts?" she murmured, tugging absentmindedly at her friend's sleeve.

Michelle's stomach gave a flop as she saw her first glimpse of the place she would spend the majority of her next seven years of her life. Even through the downpour it was the most magnificent thing that she had ever laid eyes on, light shown through each of the thousands of windows that dotted the castle walls. Remus and Sirius were staring at the castle in almost the same way, pure excitement was shining on Sirius's face, and though Remus indeed looked happy, there was something else there.

The boys in the boat ahead of them had stopped yelling at each other on who's fault it had been that Sirius had fallen out, and were entranced by the sight of Hogwarts.

"Heads down!" Hagrid called out over the roar of the pounding water. The tiny fleet ducked under a curtain of vines that hid the entrance of a cave underneath the entrance of the school. The soon to be first years clambered out of their boats and huddled near a large door in the side of the rock.

Hagrid walked over and opened the door, ushering the children into a good-sized room where a witch stood by another closed door. She wore emerald green robes, spectacles and her black hair was tied in a very strict bun.

"Got th' firs' years here, Professor McGonagall." He said, motioning to the students proudly.

"Thank you Hagrid, you may return to the Great Hall. I shall speak to the students and be in in a moment," the professor stated rather matter-of-factly. He left through the doors and left the students feeling extremely nervous.

Remus began to fidget, looking more and more nervous by the second. Lily was shaking, holding hands with Michelle who looked rather pale. Sirius had rejoined the other two boys and appeared to be being reassured by the messy haired kid. The blonde boy looked like he was going to throw up, his blondish hair dripping water into his eyes.

"Excuse me," the professor said, "In a few short moments you will be sorted into your houses. There are Griffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Your house will be like your family, your achievements will earn you points and if there is any rule breaking you will lose points. I will go announce your arrival, stay here," and with that, she swept out the door.

Lily began to panic, "But I don't know any magic, how am I supposed to be sorted? Is one house better than any other? Remus," Lily abandoned her own worries at the look on Remus's face. The only thing there was horror. "Are you okay?" Remus turned to her,

"But what if I **don't** get sorted? What if I don't get in a house, will they throw me out?!" He looked like he wanted to cry and run away at the same time. Lily looked confused and in turn, turned to Michelle.

"There isn't any reason that you wouldn't get into a house, I guess, unless you're a squib. But if you got your letter and you're here, there shouldn't be a problem." Michelle faced her two distraught friends with concern. "Really, neither of you should have any problems-"

"Or really they will because they're just so thick. You three are disgraceful, blubbering like that," A tall boy with long, greasy, black hair remarked from behind. "Yes, to your question, ginger, one house is better than all the others. Slytherin is the only suitable house for a respectable wizard. Not that you should bother trying to get into it, I doubt you could do it," He walked back to a group of people they could only guess were his friends.

"That git,"

Remus, Michelle and Lily started and turned around to be face to face with Sirius with a very dark look on his face. It didn't suit him.

"The only house that _isn't _okay to be in _is_ Slytherin," he spat "There wasn't a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in that house. Believe me, my entire family is in Slytherin, and they're about as bad as they get. I hate them, I hate being a Black, if I get into Slytherin, I'll kill myself. Griffindor is really the best; anyone would want to be a Griffindor."

The messy haired boy called him back, "Come on Sirius! Poor Peter's gunna wet himself if you don't,"

"I'll be right there James, one second. Good luck guys, don't worry, you couldn't be Slytherins, there's no way girls so cute would be Slytherins," he added with a wink and an apologetic smile towards Remus before heading back to James and Peter saying, "I can't have any friends but you now, can I? You're so impatient,"

"No, you can't, and stop flirting with all the girls. They'll know that I'm your friend and they won't want to go out with me," James whined playfully.

"What is it with all the guys here?" Michelle goggled after Sirius as if he had more heads than was normal for an eleven-year-old wizard. "They sure don't act like this where I live,"


	4. Of Sorting and Sorts

**Disclaimer: **The only person I own is Michelle. JK Rowling is the greatest, we are only her pawns. Okay, for some idiotic reason the Fanfiction site is making some of the italics go away, so if some parts seem a little off, not my fault. **IMPORTANT: Kailey Macauley belongs to numbah 1 hp fan! **I asked permission to use her character. This is not a crossover, so you don't have to go read her stories to understand. But you should read them anyway, 'cause they're amazing.

Chapter Four: Of Sorting and Sorts 

Professor McGonagall returned moments later,

"We're ready for you now, follow me," she motioned to them and opened the doors to the biggest room Michelle had ever seen. They walked between two of the four tables that ran the entire length of the hall. Already sitting, there were at least two hundred witches and wizards turning to watch them pass. At the other end of the hall was a three-legged stool with a ragged looking hat perched on top of it. Michelle felt someone tugging on her robes and looked around to see Remus pointing at the ceiling with his mouth open.

Michelle too, looked up and saw black, billowing, swirling clouds instead of the roof.

"Bloody hell, that's cool!" she stared in wonder as they approached the front of the hall. "How do you think they do that?"

Lily answered, slightly in awe, "It's magic,"

Suddenly, they had reached the front, and all too soon for some of the first years. Their nerves were in danger of giving out by now. They all stood, staring at the hat sitting on that stool. Without any warning, it ripped open and burst into song.

(I haven't enough imagination to make up my own song, wow me.)

"Now when I call your names, you will come up here and sit, I will place the hat on your head and you will be sorted into you houses. Casey Abbot,"

A short girl with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes pushed her way past Sirius, who was standing stock-still in fear. "Why did my name have to be at the beginning of the alphabet? Oh God, I could be next, who knows if there are even any more "a's" He mumbled. His face paled as Casey was sorted into Hufflepuff with a huge smile on her face.

"Nathaniel Adams"

Michelle looked at him in pity; he would probably give anything to have her last name, but in truth, she would rather get it over with quickly. She turned back to where Nathan was, yet as she did, he went to Ravenclaw.

"Sirius Black"

For a minute she thought that he must have frozen, for James had to give him a push to get him up there. He walked abnormally slowly, like he was trying to postpone his fate. The hat was on his head. Seconds lengthened, he appeared to be having a fight with the hat inside his head because his face was screwed up from something that was going on up there. Finally after at least two or three minutes the hat cried out,

"Griffindor!"

Sirius jumped off the stool in joy and looked like he was trying not to yell with happiness, the Slytherins were dumbstruck. James, Peter, Michelle, Lily and Remus cheered more loudly than anyone else in the hall. Besides Sirius, only his cousin, Andromeda, had succeeded in not getting into Slytherin. She was a third year Ravenclaw now. By the time Sirius had reached the Griffindor table Professor McGonagall was calling another name.

"Amelia Bones" then a wavy haired boy, "Jackson Cains," both went to Hufflepuff.

"Lily Evans"

Lily gave a little start beside Michelle, "I wasn't expecting it to come up so fast," she whispered, more to herself than to Michelle. Yet she needn't have worried for the hat was only on her head for a couple seconds before she was announced a Griffindor to the delight of herself and her new friends.

A few more names went by including a very pompous looking blonde boy named "Kevin Garners" who was sorted into Ravenclaw.

Remus was starting to shake again, Michelle squeezed his hand reassuringly, but deep down she doubted that it would help much. There was something a little weird about Remus Lupin.

They had gotten to the "Js".

A shy looking boy with shaggy, dark brown hair and brown eyes hurried towards the hat when "Riley Jacobs" was called. Michelle stared at him until Remus nudged her in the ribs.

"What's the matter? Are you okay?" he asked looking at her face as if she might be ill.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah I'm fine," she murmured, uncomfortably aware of the fact that she was blushing.

"Remus Lupin"

Remus lost whatever color his face had left and walked stiffly to the stool. It felt just as bad to stand and watch as Remus began to look panicky for a moment under the hat that slipped down to his eyes. But just when Michelle began to worry, he was sorted into Griffindor. Now all she had to do was get into Griffindor too, that couldn't be so hard, could it?

"Kailey Macauley" A blue eyed girl with shoulder length, black hair was sorted into Griffindor. _Cool,_ _she and Lily will be my roommates if I get into Griffindor, Kailey looks nice enough._

"Peter Pettegrew"

The blonde boy who was friends with Sirius and James was under the hat for nearly as long as Sirius had been himself finally came out a Griffindor.

If he can do it then so can I, and by the way, where did James go? Suddenly there was a cold breeze on the back of her neck and she spun around only to be face to face with James whatever-his-last-name-is. 

"Boo." He whispered.

_There he is._

"James Potter"

"I hate you. And by the way, you're up." Michelle whispered back, giving him a glare that plainly wished great physical harm upon his sorry being.

"Well look at that, I am," he said, and practically skipped up to the hat.

Please don't be Griffindor please don't be Griffindor please don't be Griffindor! 

But the hat barely touched his nasty messy hair.

"GRIFFINDOR!"

The world just hates me, doesn't it? 

She was almost alone; there were only seven other students around her. "Elisa Rammond" was sorted into Griffindor, a tall girl with short, wavy, mouse-colored hair.

"Eric Sanders" went to Hufflepuff,

"Serverus Snape" was sorted into Slytherin. It was the same greasy haired boy who had made fun of them earlier.

"Dominic Tarins"

What? Oh yeah, I completely forgot that Dominic is the same age as me. Hahahaha I shouldn't tell him that. I've always thought of him as so much younger than me, I guess it is almost a year actually. Wow, way to go me. I forgot about my cousin. Families usually get into the same house right.

"Hufflepuff!"

"That's not good."

"Michelle Tarins"

Michelle felt like she was in a trance or maybe a dream and she was only vaguely aware that she was getting closer to he hat. All of a sudden everything went black, she began to get a bit frightened until she realized that the hat was on her head and had simply fallen down to her nose. She would have laughed at her own stupidity, but a voice interrupted her.

**Hello, we seem to be an animagus? Am I not correct?**

Um… yes? Was that your… 

My cousin.

**What?**

Dominic. He's my cousin.

**Oh, I see. Well anyway lets take a look at you. Hmmm… good mind, could be a Ravenclaw, but you are brave, so there's a possible Griffindor there… But maybe a Slytherin, you like to get your way-**

_No. I won't be a Slytherin. Period._

**Fine. Be that way.**

"GRIFFINDOR!"

Michelle ran off and sat down in between Remus and Lily as they sorted through "Michael Vigars" (Slytherin) and "Ingrid Williams" (Ravenclaw). The sorting ended with "Camille Yazinka" being added to the Griffindor girls.

_Hmm, me, Lily, Elisa and Camille, that sounds like it could be fun. Now let's eat!!!_


	5. Afraid of Birds?

**Disclaimer: **do I really have to say it?

Chapter Five: Afraid of Birds?

Michelle ran and sat down in between Lily and Elisa, giving the redhead a high-five and congratulating Remus who was on the other side of Lily and next to Sirius.

"We're all Griffindor this is wicked!" James yelled, disturbing the second year next to him.

"Yeah," Sirius laughed, obviously overjoyed that he hadn't been put in Slytherin. "Now, all we need for the best first day of school tomorrow is a prank, but what?" An evil glint began to creep into his eyes and Michelle reminded herself to never get onto his bad side.

"So," she said, turning to Elisa, "umm, what are you? I mean like, I'm a half-blood and Lily's a muggleborn," Elisa spun around to look at her, she had been in the middle of a conversation with Kailey apparently, and the other bent around Elisa to listen in.

"I'm a pureblood, and this is my best friend since we were six, Kailey, and she's muggleborn. But don't worry, I don't believe in all that stuff about purebloods being better than others, my parents didn't raise me to think that way. You two are Lily and Michelle, right?"

"Yup that's us, so where do you guys live I've never seen any other witches around?" Michelle asked. But before they could answer, Dumbledore rose from his seat at the head of the staff table, and silence fell immediately.

"To my new students, welcome, to those returning, welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. I have a few announcements to make before we are befuddled by this excellent feast. First of which is we have a new teacher to fill the post of Herbology. Please give a warm welcome to Professor Sprout." A short, young witch, with rather flyaway hair stood and gave a polite bow, there was some scattered applause and she returned to her seat. "Also our Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, has been appointed to Deputy Headmistress this year." More applause. "And last but not least, we have recently acquired a Whomping Willow and I caution all of you now not to attempt to approach it if you do not wish to be injured. It has been planted on the grounds for my own reasons. But for now, let the feast begin!" Suddenly, the plates filled themselves with food and all the conversations were picked up once more.

Michelle paused as she sipped her pumpkin juice, gazing over to where Remus was being bombarded by questions from James Potter and Sirius Black. Something about being a "Marauder." She couldn't fail to notice that he had reddened at the sound of the Whomping Willow being planted on the grounds.

"Michelle!"

"Ah! What?" Elisa had been trying to get her attention for the past minute and now Michelle had succeeded in staining her new robes. "Damn. Mum won't like this,"

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you or anything," Elisa said sniggering slightly. "Anyway, I was asking if you had brought any pets with you. Did you? Because Kailey doesn't like birds too much."

"Um… I brought my cat, Snickers. Is that okay Kailey?" Michelle addressed the darker haired girl.

"Why would I care if you brought your… wait, what did Elisa tell you?" Kailey looked up from her roast beef. "I'm not afraid of birds. I mean it was a long time ago and I was only eight, and that bird was huge! It's not my fault if my uncle was playing tricks on me, he's the one who told me to feed the birds! It was London, so I got completely swamped with pigeons okay, you woulda been scared too!"

"What? All she said was that you didn't like birds so much," Michelle was starting to lean away from the yelling girl, making Lily skooch over a bit.

By now Elisa was doubled over with laughter, Kailey took that opportunity and pushed her face into her plate of mashed potatoes.

"HEY! I didn't do anything, it was all you," Elisa reached for her napkin with one hand and wiped some of the white mush out of her eyes with the other. "Now look, you've wasted all of these wonderful potatoes. I'm sure there are starving children in Borneo or something that could have eaten those and now you've condemned them to another night on an empty stomach. How does that make you feel?"

Kailey only glared at her friend, who only turned to her asking, "Is there any left on my face?"

Lily began to giggle but was for some reason, desperately trying not to. The effect was that her face turned a similar color to her hair, sending Michelle into a laughing fit. Remus sat on the sidelines most likely wondering why girls were so weird.

"Ah, no I don't believe thi-is!" Michelle cried suddenly, hiding her face in her hands.

"What is it?" Everyone turned to her.

"I've got the hiccups…"

hic

"So?" Lily said, looking confused.

"You don-hic-don't get it. hic. I get the hic-hiccups all the time! hic," She sounded quite distressed for something so minor. "I get them in classes too, in the middle of taking an important test I got them one time. Everyone was staring at me," Michelle looked like for one moment she might have slammed her head onto the table but thought better of it and tried to go back to eating. It was pretty hard, only swallowing right after one hiccup as so she wouldn't choke.

Soon enough, dinner was over and dessert came and went in a delicious burst of puddings and truffles. Once they were completely finished, the odds and ends disappeared and Dumbledore stood once more.

"I believe that it is time for bed. Prefects, please show the first years to the dormitories, now off to bed, and with a final two words, grimple knack,"

There was a great commotion as everyone began to head towards the door (Michelle hiccupping all the way.) The first year Griffindors followed Grace McNulty up the stairs and through numerous passageways to a large stretch of wall with many moving paintings along it. They stopped before a doorway sized painting of a fat lady in a pink satin dress.

"Password?" She said looking at Grace.

"Silver Arrow," Grace stated, the fat lady swung around to expose a circular doorway leading into the side of the wall. They followed Grace inside and were astonished at the coziness if the room beyond, everything was red and gold: the tables, the couches, the rugs and the chairs were all the colors of Griffindor. There was already a nice fire crackling merrily on one side of the room, casting twitchy shadows on the opposite walls.

There was a little "oooh… aaah," from Elisa and Kailey; those two were a piece of work. Lily was gazing around the room in wonder, rubbing Michelle on the back all the while. Michelle was trying to rid herself of her hiccups by holding her breath, but Lily had to steady her, as she kept feeling faint.

"The boy's dormitories are up the stairs on your right, the girl's, the same on the left. All of your belongings and pets have been brought up earlier. The password is changed regularly, so check with me or the other Griffindor prefect, Theo Golding. The other Griffindors will also be back shortly. Good night." And with that, she turned and climbed the stairs to the girl's dormitories.

The group separated and they too climbed the staircase to their rooms.

"Are they gone? Are your hiccups gone Michelle?" Kailey asked as she opened the door to the first year's dormitories. Inside were four red blanketed, four-poster beds with gold pillows lining the right side of the circular room.

"No, hic, but I want the middle!" Michelle cried and catapulted herself onto the middle bed closer to the window than the door. They took her lead and flung themselves onto the bed they desired, Kailey next to the door, Elisa the middle right and Lily to the window bed. Michelle sighed, she was here, in the Hogwarts that her parents had learned everything they knew, where her sister had boasted about every holiday, she was there, finally.

She slid to the end of her bed and leaned over the end of it, unlocking her trunk and pulling her pajamas right off of the top. Her sister had told her that that would be the first thing she would need. Lily obviously hadn't had anyone to tell her that, her pajamas were hiding from her at the bottom of hers and Kailey's were also. After pulling on her gray p.j.s, something hit her,

"Snickers? Where are you?"

Kailey didn't appear to have any pets, though she was looking furiously at her friend.

"What?" Elisa said defensively her blue eyes narrowing.

"You said you wouldn't bring her! You said you'd leave her at home, that was mean, you lied!" Kailey yelled at Elisa, pointing to something by her feet that Michelle and Lily had to peek over the top of their beds to see.

Sitting beside the blonde girl's feet was a large owl cage and inside was an extremely large Eagle Owl, looking very important on its perch.

Elisa's head moved as she looked down at the bird. "Oh yeah, huh…right. Oops. My bad." Kailey snorted. "Well, I had to bring her, I need to get my mail don't I?"

"But your parents have owls, they could have sent you mail that way."

"Well… not really, my Mom's dad isn't feeling well, he's in Mungo's right now so Harold has been ferrying Mom and Grampy's letters back and forth. And Dad sent Felix to his brother's house for now at least. His owls keep dieing and Dad reckons that Felix is lucky or something like that."

Kailey looked taken aback, "How come you didn't tell me?"

She shrugged, "I dunno,"

Michelle marveled at the fight and immediate reconciliation of the friends, then went back to looking for Snickers. She swung around, hooked her feet on the edge of the bed and hung her head over the side so that she was upside-down from the waist up. She shook the hair out of her eyes and tried to ignore the blood rushing to her head. Underneath the bed was a very small cat, a kitten actually. Michelle pulled her out gently and plopped her down on her new bed.

"Hey everybody, this is Snickers, Snickers, everybody. Isn't she cute?" Lily came over and tickled under the tiny cat's chin; she purred and closed her eyes. She was a little brown/butterscotch color and had a rather tortoiseshell look about her.

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Over in the boy's dormitories, things were a bit quieter. The four boys had picked their beds, Peter over on the right, then James, Sirius and Remus, right on the end, next to the window. They had long since put on their pajamas and, oddly enough, each of them except for Remus had owls.

"Come on, James, we totally have to do a prank before the end of the week. If we don't, then the record stays with the other guys, the last record holders had themselves a prank by the first weekend," Sirius whispered above the sound of Peter's snores, how he could have fallen asleep already was beyond them. They also thought that Remus was asleep. He was not.

He was however, feeling very homesick. As much as these boys had been nice to him, Remus did not feel that he would ever fit in. _I can't do it,_ Remus thought. He had caught Michelle glancing at him throughout dinner. _She may already suspect something, and she said that she was an animagus. All animals can sense a werewolf miles away. I can't be around her too much. It just won't work._ He shifted restlessly, listening to James and Sirius plotting. He never had to worry about all of this when he was at home. Remus would be loved and hugged constantly by his mum, his Dad giving him a reassuring wink once and a while.

Before Hogwarts, he had barely gone anywhere, they stayed in their house in the woods, far away from the wizarding village at the bottom of the large, forested, sloping hill. His lycanthropy had been hard on his parents. For years they had tried to cure him, taking all different manner of potions, the worst of which made him very ill and he was forced to be put into Saint Mungo's for nearly three weeks. With a final thought of his Mother and Father he fell into a fitful sleep.

But he was grateful; he had been allowed to attend the best wizard school in Britain. It was all because of the word of one man.

Albus Dumbledore.


	6. Letters

I Disclaim (it has come to my attention that I have spelt "Gryffindor" and "Dumbledore" wrong and that I can now call myself a complete idiot.) Luckily I changed it before anyone told me that I was so incredibly stupid. 

Chapter Six: Letters

Michelle cracked open her eyes and was immediately scared out of her wits by a huge pair of blue eyes staring back at her. She reacted by promptly screaming, jerking backwards and falling right out of bed.

"Don't do that! I think you just took a few years off my lifespan…" Michelle cried from the floor, holding a hand to her heart.

Elisa was laughing loudly, "How long was it, Kailey?"

_Yeah, you laugh now, I'm gunna get you later. Evil people._

"Twenty-six seconds," She replied, "That breaks your record, sorry Elisa. She beat you,"

"What are you two talking about?" Michelle glared at them and pulled herself from the cold floor of the Hogwarts girl's dormitories.

Elise smiled and dug through her trunk in search of a pair of socks. "You broke my record of how long it took you to wake up when someone stares at you. I had the winning time of only thirty-one seconds, but now it's gone. You're good," She found the socks and slipped them on. "Come on and get dressed, breakfast is only served for another half an hour,"

"What time is it?" Michelle glanced at her watch. Seven thirty four. Too early for her liking

_Way too_ _early for me to be in a very good mood, or for others to be so bright and cheery. This is going to be a very long seven years with these girls…_

_I think the voice of reason in this room is missing, wonder if it'll end up being Lily or me?_

She dressed quickly, but as she buttoned up her cloak she noticed something missing.

"Where's Lily you guys?"

Kailey stood by the door, waiting patiently, well, for the time being at least. "She woke up way before any of us. I was just waking up as she was leaving, she said that she would try to find an older student to follow but she'd save seats for us if we wanted to hurry up. Though we have to find someone to follow too, or we might miss the food,"

Merlin forbid… 

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They didn't miss it though; one of the older Gryffindors was nice enough to show them the way. Lily waved to them from the table, she had been sitting with Remus and eating some jelly on toast. He looked a little better than he did last night.

_Maybe Remus was just really nervous last night. Everyone was, it's hard to tell if he was scared or maybe he's ill. Could be either one really. _

Remus moved over to make room for the three new arrivals so that they wouldn't have to ask a particularly moody looking sixth year boy to move down a little. They all sat down and pulled all sorts of breakfast towards themselves.

"Have we missed the mail?" Kailey asked Lily, looking uneasily at the ceiling.

_I hope not._

"No, it should be coming soon," She ignored the "darn!" from Kailey and turned to Michelle, "I let Snickers go into the common room when I left earlier, I hope that's okay. She was scratching at the door to go out."

Michelle swallowed her mouthful and nodded, "It's alright, I want to keep her in my sight until we get to know the castle better. If she gets out now, I'll probably get lost trying to look for her,"

There was a gasp from a group of first year Hufflepuffs and they looked up. The mail was here. Kailey's eyes widened at the multitude of birds and she shielded her head from attack. Michelle laughed quietly, she wasn't expecting her parents to send her something on the first day, so that way she wasn't disappointed when they didn't.

There was a loud Bang! from the other side of the room as Sirius, James and Peter rushed into the Great Hall. Sirius's face blanched at the sight of the owls still swarming the place and he turned around to run back down the hall, but James grabbed him by the cloak and literally dragged him to some empty seats nearby.

"Sirius, you don't know that they will. Maybe they won't care… And if they do, just… try and get it over with quickly. We won't laugh at you. I mean it." James tried to consol a very twitchy looking Sirius while Peter looked confused.

_Well he's being really nice to his friends, maybe James really isn't so bad after all._

"What are you two talking about?" He mumbled and began stuffing his face. They ignored him due to the fact that there was a large owl soaring down towards Sirius holding a red envelope and Sirius had gone deathly pale.

_A Howler. Poor guy._

It landed in his plate, though there was no food present on it and held out its leg. He didn't take it.

"Come on, Sirius. Get it over with before more people get into the hall,"

Sirius gulped and took the slightly smoking letter.

"What's that?" Lily asked, not having a clue to what the red envelope meant.

"Plug your ears, Lily, this won't be pretty," Elisa mumbled, hands in place.

"Why-"

"YOU COMPLETELY DISGRACED THE FAMILY! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU DO THIS AFTER THE WAY YOUR FATHER AND I RAISED YOU! I WOULD BE IN THE RIGHT MIND TO TAKE YOU OUT OF THERE THIS INSTANT! OR WE SHOULD AT LEAST HAVE YOU TRANSFERRED TO SLYTHERIN! YOUR FATHER AND I WERE RIGHT! WE SHOULD HAVE PUT YOU IN DURMSTRANG! AT LEAST THERE YOU WOULDN'T BE A GRYFFINDOR! IF YOU PULL A STUNT LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN YOU WILL BE DISOWNED FORTHRIGHT! DON'T YOU DARE COME HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!"

The letter exploded with the force of a firecracker. Tiny shards of paper and ash rained down on the entire Gryffindor table, ruining anyone's not finished breakfast. No one laughed. After the initial shock, James patted Sirius on the shoulder and blew on his head, powder spiraling into the air.

Even some of the teachers looked shocked. Professor Dumbledore walked to Sirius's side, bent low and spoke quietly to him. Sirius nodded without taking his eyes off of the black spot on the tablecloth. James gave the headmaster a smile, which he returned, but it was a sad smile.

Michelle couldn't remember ever feeling sorrier for someone.

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Michelle looked at her schedule as Professor McGonagall passed it to her and her fellow first years.

8 o'clock: History of Magic with Hufflepuff

9 o'clock: Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin

10 o'clock: Charms with Hufflepuff

11 o'clock: Potions with Slytherin

12 o'clock: Transfiguration with Ravenclaw

1 o'clock lunch

2 o'clock: Broomstick lesson with Ravenclaw

3 o' clock: Herbology with Hufflepuff

4 o'clock: Care of Magical Creatures with Ravenclaw

11 o'clock Thursdays: Astronomy

She glared at the first period History of Magic; her sister had always claimed that it was so boring that almost no one did well in the class because of the fact that they could not stay awake to hear the lesson. They had the most classes with the Ravenclaws and she couldn't complain.

_At least it's not three periods with the Slytherins._

Though Potions would be murder, she hoped that she might be good at it to make up for the bad luck.

Glancing up, someone caught her eye as they sat down across from her. _Camille Yazinka. _Where had she come from? Michelle didn't recall seeing her anytime after the feast. And she had never come to bed. _Where was she last night?_

The girl sat, looking thoroughly depressed and forlorn across the table. She wasn't eating. The teachers had swept the ashes from the food a minute ago. She wasn't eating, but staring down the table with vacant blue eyes. Even her posture seemed to be absent of any energy; she was slumped against the table, shoulders hunched and arms crossed with her head resting on clenched hands. She looked so sad that even Grace McNulty, sitting beside her touched her shoulder and asked if she was feeling well. Camille looked at the girl slowly, and then put her head back on her hands with a non-committal shrug.

Michelle was just about to voice her concerns to Lily or one of the others when Professor McGonagall appeared behind Camille holding out her own course schedule and an official looking envelope with a stamped seal in the corner. The stamped marking looked familiar to Michelle, and it took her a moment to recognize the symbol. When she did, her concern doubled.

_It's a Saint Mungos letter._

"I believe, Miss Yazinka, that this letter holds what you have been hoping for. I have spoken to the headmaster and you will be allowed to go this weekend,"

Camille stared at the Transfiguration teacher for a second then took the letter with shaking hands, suddenly tearing the paper open. Her eyes flew back and forth down the parchment, her expression becoming more shocked and pleased by the second. She spun around in her seat and hugged the professor round the waist. It was as if time had stopped, no one in the hall moved. Everyone knew of Professor McGonagall's strict ways and formidable temper.

The next moment a shockwave blew every student's mind as the teacher gazed down at the tiny girl hugging her stomach and smiled. It was a small smile, but one nonetheless. McGonagall reached down and patted Camille's shoulder, releasing the spell and Camille quickly twisted back into her seat, now looking thoroughly embarrassed.

"Thank you, professor," Whispered Camille.

She nodded and continued on her way along the table with the first years' schedules. The usual chatter returned as everyone went on with his or her breakfasts.

Kailey and Elisa were having a silent but violent fight about who was going to ask Camille what that was all about, Lily edging away from the two, trying to avoid their gesturing limbs. She gave Michelle a helpless look.

Those two could be very destructive. Remus and the other boys didn't really seem to notice the hug. All of them are busy comforting Sirius. I really feel bad for him, imagine, not being allowed to come home for Christmas…

Though when Michelle was forced to grab Lily and pull her back out of the way of one of Elisa's flailing arms, she decided to take it upon herself to do it.

Trying to think of the most tactful way of asking she leaned foreword a bit.

"So, Camille? Where did you go last night? I didn't hear you come up," She tried to sound politely curious.

Kailey and Elisa froze and smiled at each other, the latter still in a headlock.

Camille looked up and gave Michelle a calculating look, not a rude one, but perhaps one to see if maybe she could keep a secret. She lowered her gaze and her voice.

"My mother is an Unspeakable in the Spell Invention Department of the ministry. Recently, one of the charms she was working on backfired or something and she went into what the muggles call a coma," her voice filled with emotion. "I've been spending every day with her but … since I was on the train yesterday I wasn't able to be with her. The headmaster was nice enough to let me be with her last night,"

She picked up a glass of juice and took a sip, her blue eyes never leaving Michelle's face.

I can't even imagine what her family must be going through, if something like that ever happened to my mum, I don't think I'd even be able to get up and come to school.

"I'm sorry-" she started.

"But while I was there her condition changed, the Healers said that she either was beginning to recover… or that she wouldn't last the night. I had to spend the rest of the night home with my dad. Professor Dumbledor came to get me early this morning, so that's why you didn't see me,"

Comprehension shown on Lily's face. "So that letter you got…?"

"She's recovering! The healers say that she's awake!"

They couldn't help but smile back Camille was practically radiating happiness.

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At ten of eight the five girls started off together for History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs. By the end of their trip they were all glad that they had left with ten minutes to spare. They found the door with only a minute or so left before the doors opened.

Michelle sighed with relief, leaning against the wall and looking around. Most of the Hufflepuffs were already there. She recognized Amelia Bones and Casey Abbot talking nearby but besides those two she only knew one other.

Dominic Tarins turned around when the boy he was talking to pointed to Michelle. She gave him a little wave and he came over.

"Hi Michelle,"

"Hi!"

He stood facing her; they looked similar but not terribly alike. Dominic's face was a little rounder and he was an inch or two taller than she was.

"Hey, Dom, these are my friends. This is Lily, Camille, Kailey and that's Elisa. Girls, this is my cousin Dominic." They exchanged pleasantries and Dominic waved over the boy that had pointed them out to him. He had chocolate colored eyes and wavy brown hair.

"This is Jackson," He pointed to the remaining boy. "And that is Eric, there is another boy in Hufflepuff but I haven't seen him around,"

Jackson spoke up, "I saw him hanging out with the two other girls at breakfast,"

Just as the bell rang and the door swung open they heard footsteps pounding the stone floor. James was running at a breakneck speed towards the entering students with Sirius only a few steps behind. Though to Michelle's surprise, Sirius had a clump of Remus' sleeve clenched in his fist and was dragging Remus along behind him. The boy had that expressed shock and a touch of a smile.

_I think he's having a little fun._

Lagging behind, panting and sweating was Peter Pettegrew. "Wait for me guys," he cried.

By the time James reached the classroom, everyone was inside in his or her seats. Michelle held the door open; her sister had told her that once the doors closed, you were considered late. Michelle didn't want points taken away from Gryffindor already.

"You're cutting it kind of close!" she hissed.

Sirius gave her a very thankful glance and hurried in with Remus in tow. He gave her an exasperated look, but his mouth was twitching. James waited at the door for Peter to pass in between them. As soon as he was through the door James grabbed Michelle's hand and rushed her inside. Lily was holding a seat for her and Sirius was right behind her with a seat for James. They hastened to sit down as the doors slammed shut behind them.

Michelle could hear James, Sirius and Remus catching their breath behind her, but Peter was silent. He may have passed out.

There was a collective gasp as Professor Binns floated through the chalkboard. But as her sister had warned, that truly was the most exiting thing about the class. About five or six minutes into the class lecture, the remaining Hufflepuffs crept into the room. It was obvious that they had gotten lost. However, the ghost didn't even look up from reading his notes on the origin of Magic.

Michelle became aggravated and tired, finally turning around in her seat and looking at James, who had a similar expression to hers on his face. She sighed.

"Hey James?"

He took his eyes off of Remus's notes, which were being written less and less frequently as the class droned on, and looked up at her.

"Hmm?"

"You know, I don't think that Professor Binns would have noticed if all four of you came through the door with the Giant Squid on your shoulders,"

"Yeah, I know. Hey, thanks for holding the doors for us. Peter's sisters said that once the doors close, they lock and you can't go to class,"

"No," Michelle leaned in closer, hoping no one would care that they were talking. "My sister is a fourth year and she claims that all that happens is that if you get to class late, you lose points,"

She turned back to the front and looked at her friends. Elisa and Kailey were playing hangman on one of her papers and Camille was curled up against Lily's arm, fast asleep. Judging by the look on Lily's face, if she hadn't been up all night with her mother, she probably wouldn't have tolerated it. Something told Michelle that she might have a formidable temper. She kept sending disapproving looks towards her other two friends. Lily, like Remus, was taking notes.

"Hey Michelle," James whispered so quietly she was surprised that she could hear him.

"Mmm?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Yeah…"

He paused, "Well, here's the deal. Me and Sirius and Peter I guess, are planning some… pranks for the Slytherins. Remus can too if he wants, but he seems kind of, well…"

"Shy?"

"Yeah, so we need some ideas on pranks and well… the doors on the train aren't soundproof, and I sort of … overheard you telling Lily that you're an Animagus,"

Michelle felt like her stomach had jumped up and slammed into her heart.

_Mom always said to be careful about who I tell. I told Lily because she was my friend, but I don't want the entire school knowing about me. I'll have to swear them all to secrecy, I just hope that Lily didn't tell anyone yet, though I don't think she did._

Her uncertainty and nervousness must have shown, because when she opened her mouth to object to it, James held up his hand to silence her.

"Before you say no to whatever, let me finish," He lowered his voice again. "What animal do you turn into?"

She hesitated, but if he already knew then what was the harm in telling him the truth?

"A cat,"

"That's perfect, we need who can get around the castle unnoticed. Will you help us?"

"I dunno," she looked unsure, but there was a mischievous glint in her eyes that was reflected in James's own.

"No one has to know that you're in on the pranks, no one but us. You know, the Gryffindor boys. Please? And any ideas for pranks would be great, all the one's that Sirius have come up with are a bit too complicated,"

"Alright, just on one or two conditions, okay?" she fiddled with the hem of her robes.

"What?"

"Whenever you're talking about me in my … other form, call me something else. Call me Freckles or something so that no one knows who you're talking about if they overheard. I don't need the whole school knowing about me. And I just want to know who you told,"

"I didn't tell anyone really, I wasn't one hundred percent sure who you were when I heard you talking on the train. But I recognized your voice when I heard you at the feast, on the train I told Sirius that I heard that there was an animagus in one of the compartments. I obviously didn't know it was you at the time. I'd like to tell him though, and Remus already knows of course. Peter doesn't, he didn't join the compartment until later, so I'd like to tell him too if he's going to be part of the fun. Like I said, I didn't really tell anyone, I was waiting to have you tell them once I had recruited you into the group,"

Michelle let out a huge sigh of relief, he hadn't told anyone. She would probably tell them tonight if James wanted her to. That could definitely be fun.

"Okay, I'll do it,"

He grinned, pleased that she was all right with it. With a spy on their side who was almost undetectable, they would be unstoppable.

How did I manage to have five people know about me in less than twenty-four hours of being here? I'm going to have to be careful.

lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala

It came to my attention that something had gone wrong when i copy and pasted something so i hope that this chapter makes more sence now. thanks!


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